


Welcome to Middleton High

by sageamsterdam



Category: How to Get Away with Murder
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-16
Updated: 2014-11-20
Packaged: 2018-02-25 14:59:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2625995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sageamsterdam/pseuds/sageamsterdam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver Hampton transfers to Middleton High with the hopes of nothing but just to finish his final year of high school in peace. That is, until he meets Connor Walsh.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First

“And the chemistry lab is in there… some toilets…” Oliver’s tour-guide waved his hand dismissively to his right.  


Oliver glanced up, paused, and did a double take. He saw a huge ‘BIOLOGY LAB’ signboard staring back at him.  


His guide had already walked off along the corridor without even noticing that Oliver was lagging behind.  


“This says biology,” Oliver pointed out matter-of-factly. His guide turned around and gave him a hard glare, eyes narrowed as they swivelled up to the signboard above Oliver.  


“ _Right_.” He let out a deep, long, clearly bored and irritated sigh. Oliver instantly regretted pointing out the mistake. This wasn’t how you made friends on your first day as a transfer student.  


Not that this guy seemed interested in being friends with him. Oliver struggled to recall the name given when Principal Keating introduced them in her office 20 minutes ago. Oliver was supposed to be in AP Calculus but Keating had given him and his ‘buddy’ (both boys cringed when Keating used the word) a half-day pass to walk around the school aimlessly until lunch break.  


Well, the exact phrase was “a tour for Oliver to familiarise himself with the school grounds”, but you get the idea.  


So far they’ve ventured into the choir room, the gym, the cafeteria, and walked past a few classrooms, and the silence (largely awkwardness on Oliver’s side and purely passive-aggressive, _don’t-you-dare-talk-to-me-about-anything-else_ on the other guy’s part) was taking a toll on him.  


“Hey, dude—” Oliver started and trailed off as said dude raised an eyebrow. He cleared his throat even though it was completely unnecessary.  


“It… It’s okay if you want to go back to your class or anything. I can handle myself and… and I’ll walk around on my own if you want.”  


“Oh for Pete’s sake,” the other guy rolled his eyes, “you think I want to stay here and walk around with you? If Keating catches me not doing the job she appointed me to, I’m screwed harder than that cheerleader I bonked last night.”  


Oliver didn’t know how to reply to that.  


“Let’s just get through with the rest of this stupid school then we can go sit in the cafeteria until lunch.” He started moving again and muttered loudly, “why the hell is this damn school so big?”  


This was going to be a long first day.

* * *

Asher (Oliver hacked into Middleton High’s Student Council database in the toilet and finally discovered his tour guide’s name) disappeared behind a corner and Oliver quickened his steps to catch up. Nearing the corner he heard Asher talking to another new, unfamiliar voice.  


"Aren’t you supposed to be in class?” Asher’s voice demanded. _Typical_ , Oliver rolled his eyes.  
 

“Look who’s talking,” a dry, husky voice replied smoothly.  


Oliver didn’t know if it was rude of him to interrupt Asher’s conversation and for some inexplicable reason he decided to hide behind the corner while listening to Asher and friend.  
 

“Keating appointed me to give a transfer student a tour of the school.”  


“You?”  


“Why? What’s wrong with Keating choosing me? You think Keating doesn’t know who is capable to take on responsibility? Who do you think you are anyway, Connor Wa—”  


“Hold up there, big boy. I’m just surprised because isn’t babysitting newbies the job of sophomore counsellors?”  


There was silence, and then Asher cleared his throat and replied, “I don’t know. Keating didn’t tell me why she wanted me to do it, but I—  


“… Just did it anyway.” The other voice finished the sentence, and despite not being able to see his face, Oliver could picture a smirk that accompanied this.  


“Where is the student, anyway?” the voice asked.  


Oliver jerked up at this question and rushed out from behind the corner, knocking into Asher in the process.  
 

“What the actual— Hey! Can you at least watch where you are going? My God!” Asher cried out, and Oliver mumbled a ‘sorry’ while recollecting himself.  


“Hi there,” he heard the same dry, husky voice, albeit with a tone of slight amusement.  


Oliver looked at the owner of the voice properly.  _Holy shit._ He was beautiful.  


“Uh. Right. Uh. Hello,” Oliver replied. _Get a grip on yourself_ , Oliver screamed at himself mentally.  


“I’m Connor, Asher’s… friend,” he extended a hand out and his lips curved up into a generous smile.  


Asher snorted at ‘friend’.  


Oliver caught himself staring at Connor’s lips for too long and quickly snapped out of it. “Uh. Okay. Hi, Asher’s friend. Connor. I’m Asher. No! I’m not Asher! I mean, I’m Asher’s… uh, friend—no, no not his—I am, uh…”  
 

“A super massive nerd, that’s what you are,” Asher supplied sarcastically. “No time for chit-chat, we still have to go see the rooftop garden.”  


“You guys have a rooftop garden?” Oliver was genuinely surprised.  


“Yeah,” Asher started to move up the stairway, “Prime spot for making out. Handicapped bathroom is too mainstream. Has a nice view too, chicks dig it.”  


Oliver was taken aback by Asher’s advice and turned to Connor, who was looking right at him.  


“Um.” Oliver was at a complete loss for words. Connor had stopped smiling, but he still looked quite amused.  


“It’s true, you know. The view is pretty awesome.” Connor told him. _Of course, he’d know, he probably brings girls up there all the time,_ Oliver mused. _What are the odds that he is gay?_  


Oliver summoned up whatever morsel of courage he had in him to reply, in a tone as cheekily as he could, “Of course _you’d_ know.”  


In The Great Land of Oliver’s Mind, Connor would have laughed it off and in the gayest sing-song voice, announce, “Oh no, I’m gay!”  


Connor’s brows furrowed a little, “What do you mean?”  
 

“I mean. I’m just… Since Asher said, I thought you’d, since you are… no I mean… okay just never mind me.” _God, I am pathetic._  


Connor stared at Oliver long and hard, and slowly broke into laughter. “Why are you so flustered?” he asked, amidst laughing.  
 

 _Because you are so goddamningly gorgeous and I am unworthy to be talking to you_ , Oliver replied desperately, in his head.  
 

“Oi! Nerd! Hurry up!” Asher’s voice boomed from the next floor.  
 

“I… I should go,” Oliver walked over to the staircase, but Connor grabbed him by the arm and in that split second, Oliver forgot how to breathe.  


“Wait,” Connor mouthed and released Oliver’s arm.  


“Hey, Asher!” he shouted up, then grinned at a bemused Oliver, “Keating told me to tell you that she has something for you!”  


Asher’s head popped out from behind a railing, “What for?”  


“She didn’t tell me, but she wants you to go meet her in her office. If she isn’t there, just wait for her to come back.”  


Oliver heard quick steps running down the stairs, and Asher bundled up back to the 2 of them, “Are you messing with me?” he demanded from Connor.  


“Why would I?” Connor replied simply. Asher narrowed his eyes as he glared at Connor, and then, without a second word, brisk walked back in the direction of Principal Keating’s office.  


Oliver had no idea what just transpired right before him during the last 3 minutes. “Well, what am I supposed to do now?”  
 

Connor smirked. “Now, we go see the rooftop garden.”  


Oliver looked at him, unsure if he was serious. Connor’s smirk just grew wider with a hint of something mysteriously tantalising. Heck, he could bring him to go see the sewage drains and Oliver wouldn’t have a problem at all.  


“Oh—okay.” Oliver agreed. “Oh, by the way, my name is—”  


“Oliver. I know.” Connor replied, smirk and all, “Welcome to Middleton High." 


	2. Bicycles

The rooftop garden was a lot less than what Oliver had pictured. Asher and Connor had really set him up for disappointment.

“So, is there anything you want to know?” Connor asked while they walked past a few sad looking potted plants.

Oliver glanced down the handrail and was greeted with a parapet that had a large portion of it hidden under the garden, away from anyone’s direct line of vision. So this is why Asher was so fond of this place.

“Is Asher really as much of a dick as I felt that he was?” Oliver asked bluntly, and was mildly surprised at his own insulting boldness.

Connor laughed, and Oliver felt a small thrill of triumph shoot through his body.

“Oh yes. Probably more,” Connor told him jokingly. “But I meant anything else about the school you wanted to know about.”

“Right. No, I’m set.” Oliver replied, even though he wasn’t really feeling set.

But it’s okay. He’s not here to become set, whatever that entails. He just wants to finish his final year of high school in peace and quiet, and even though he wasn’t at Middleton by choice, he figured that if he kept himself on the down low, the remaining school year will fly by, and he will be out of this place in no time.

Except… Oliver didn’t really want to leave that quickly now, now that he has met the enigmatically charming Connor. Who somehow knew his name? Keating must have told him, Oliver reckoned.

“I feel like I need to coax your life story out of you. You aren’t really the talker, are you?” Connor asked him casually.

“Um…” Oliver scrabbled for words to answer that, but couldn’t string together anything tangible. “… I guess you can say so.”

He looked at Connor. “You can tell me more about yourself,” Oliver suggested, and again, surprised himself.

“Oh?” Connor turned back and moved dangerously close to him, “Is there anything you want to know about me?”

Oliver swore he saw a spark in Connor’s eyes. “I… uh… I just—” Oliver spluttered.

Connor moved away, and Oliver remembered how to breathe, though he was a little disappointed at how short Connor’s intrusion into his personal space was.

Connor sat himself down on a bench. “Well… I’m Connor, I’m a junior, I live 3 streets away, I like boys, I am on the swim team, and I made up that nonsense about Keating wanting to talk to Asher just so that I could get rid of him and get to talk to you.”

 _He’s gay?_ Oliver’s brain went slightly haywire.

“Yes, he is.” Connor confirmed.

_Shit, did I just say that out loud? Shit. But oh shit, he’s gay._

“That’s… that’s cool. That’s really neat.” Oliver replied stupidly.

Connor raised an eyebrow, his smirk never leaving his face.

“I’ve heard meaner replies than that, so you’re safe.”

“Oh no! I don’t mean, no… Oh man, I am such a dork.” Oliver cried out helplessly and Connor just burst out laughing.

Oliver looked at Connor in sheer embarrassment, “You laugh very easily, don’t you?”

Connor shook his head. “No I don’t, but you… you just make me laugh.”

Oliver rolled his eyes, “That’s nice to hear.”

“I didn’t mean it that way,” he replied, amidst trying, and failing, to restrain his laughter, “I just think you are adorable when you are freaking out. And you freak out a lot.” Oliver was pretty sure his heart skipped a beat.

“I… uh…” Oliver was about to thank Connor when the bell rang, disrupting the last thread of coherence he had in his mind. Connor stood up and signalled for Oliver to follow him.

“Come on, it’s Tacos Tuesday.”

* * *

The two boys arrived at the cafeteria in time to see students filing in. The chatter got increasingly loud and the boisterous clang of trays, utensils and chairs filled the air. Connor started striding towards the lunch line but Oliver wasn’t sure if he was supposed to—

“Dude, what are you standing there for?” Connor beckoned him over. Oliver rushed over.

“Hi Connor,” the girl in front of them greeted him shyly, and Oliver is reminded of half an hour ago when he made a fool of himself in front of he-who-stands-among-the-Greek-gods.

“Hey you,” Connor replied friendly. The girl beamed and opened her mouth to continue the conversation but Connor had turned away from her and back to Oliver.

“So which school were you at before coming here? Are you from Philly, or?”

Connor grabbed 2 trays and passed one to Oliver.

“Um… sort of. Well, not really.” Oliver gave an impassioned shrug. Connor may be cute as a button but he wasn’t ready to spill his life story to someone who he only knew for half an hour. Or to anybody, really.

Connor must have gotten the hint, because he simply nodded with a faint smile and turned to look at the daily special. “Shepard’s pie? What happened to tacos?”

“No tacos today. Though I heard the pie is really good,” the girl in front of them tried again.

“Oh, really? Now I must try it,” Connor replied and Oliver noticed the girl blushing red faster than a paper chromatography experiment.

 _Damnit,_ Oliver kicked himself mentally as Connor and Beetroot Face were now comparing pies (“Pecan or crumble?” “You mean, pecan and crumble?”), _should have made up a story about moving to South Africa or something._

He was just about to chip in with his mother’s homemade apple pie recipe when a beautiful dark-skinned girl, flanked by 2 other girls in cheerleader uniforms, marched up to Connor.

“Why the hell were you missing from Philosophy? Winterbottom wanted an elevator pitch on our paper and I had to do it on my own.”

Oliver saw Beetroot Face cower slightly and shuffle forward in the queue, away from them.

“I’m sure you killed it,” Connor replied pleasantly, though Oliver wasn’t sure if he was being sarcastic. “Plato would be very proud.”

Oh yes, sarcasm.

But it seemed to have lost its effect on the intended recipient, because the girl’s face just changed at the mention of the philosopher.

“Did you know that practically the entire class did their paper on Plato? By the time it was my pitch Winterbottom looked like she wanted someone to stab her. I told you we should have gone with John Locke. Damn it, Connor! I must have been possessed when I chose to pair with you.”

“Michaela,” Connor set down his tray in front of the cafeteria lady who sloshed him some soup while he picked up a piece of pie, “I’m sure we will do fine. I’m even surer that you aced the pitch. If we don’t get that A, I will lick the sole of your heels.”

“Eww. Just when I thought you can’t get anymore disgusting.” Michaela rolled her eyes, “See you back at the table.”

She turned on her heels and stalked off, with the two cheerleaders bundling behind her faithfully.

“She’s a bitch,” Connor quipped, “But ridiculously smart.”

“Maybe that’s why she’s such a bitch.” Oliver suggested as he picked up the pie and collected his soup.

Connor turned to look at him.

“What?” Oliver asked defensively.

Connor smiled, “Nothing. Come on, you should meet the rest.”

* * *

10 minutes into the lunch and Oliver has never been more grateful for Wes, who is probably the sanest and most level headed person in Connor’s odd gang. There was Laurel, who smiled at him once; Frank, Laurel’s much-older boyfriend who didn’t look like he belonged in high school, and was is very blatantly feeling up Laurel’s skirt while engaging in publicly indecent snogging with her every few minutes; Michaela, who was eating a fruit salad while reading John Locke (surprise, surprise); Rebecca, who was pretending to be texting but was reading Michaela’s book from the corner of her eye, and Wes, the only one bothering to talk to Oliver and making him feel confortable.

“Sorry dude, I just can’t imagine anyone not knowing how to ride a bike. I bike to school every morning!” Wes told him.

“Yeah, I do need to learn. I never got round to actually start trying,” Oliver admitted, feeling a little embarrassed.

“I can teach you, if you are interested,” Wes offered kindly as he scrapped the last bit of pie out of its aluminium case.

“That would be… nice,” Oliver thanked Wes and was genuinely touched by Wes’ offer. He probably won’t take it up, but it is the thought that counts.

Frank had moved in again for another round of sloppy, disgusting French kisses but Laurel stood up, catching him off guard.

“Where’re you going, babe?” Frank asked.

“Firstly, stop calling me babe. Secondly, where I’m going is none of your business.” She turned to the rest, “I have a meeting with the Publications Club now, if I don’t turn up for World History on time just help me tell the teacher.”

Wes nodded, “Sure thing. Have a good meeting!” and Rebecca did an A-Ok finger sign with her free hand that wasn’t shovelling pie down her mouth. Michaela did not even look up from Locke.

Oliver turned to look at Connor, who had stopped by another table full of ridiculously fit-looking boys. Connor was commanding the entire table’s presence, and something he said made the whole group roar with laughter. Rebecca followed his gaze.

“That’s the swim team,” she informed him.

The guy at the seat closest to Connor stood up, whispered something into Connor’s ear, and walked off.

“And _that_ , was Julian. He’s the captain,” Rebecca continued. Oliver noticed that Julian looked like he walked out of a centrefold spread. He returned his tray, turned back to glance at Connor, then walked into the washroom.

Connor looked around the cafeteria furtively and made eye contact with Oliver and Rebecca, who smirked wider than the Cheshire cat.

“Roll on over, village bicycle,” she raised her juice packet at him in a fake-toast, and he rolled his eyes, before walking off in the direction of the washroom.

Oliver wasn’t sure what exactly was happening but—

“Walsh bangs anything that has an Adam’s apple and moves. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

 _Well_. Oliver hadn’t seen that one coming. He glanced at the washroom door which Julian, and Connor, disappeared behind, and suppressed his longing sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These first few chapters are to lay out the context and introduce the characters. Hope you enjoyed my take on Keating 5, high school edition! My finals are next week and will last till the 1st of December and between now and then the next chapter will be up if time permits. If not, WTMH will be back in December. Till then x


End file.
